Saturday, July 16, 2011

Mayflower Ancestors Pt. 8: Richard Warren

Richard Warren came on the Mayflower without his family, but his wife Elizabeth and daughters Abigail, Anna, Elizabeth, Mary, and Sarah came over in 1623 on the Anne.He was not of the Leiden contingent of Pilgrims. Gov. Bradford gives Richard the honorific of “Mr.” in his History of the Plimouth Plantation, but does not give many details of the man. He does write that Mr. Richard Warren lived some four or five years and had his wife come over to him, by whom he had two sons before (he) died, and one of them is married and hath two children. So his increase is four. But he had five daughters more came over with his wife, who are all married and living, and have many children." All seven of the Warren children grew up, married and had children.

Richard was born about 1590, probably at Hertfordshire, and his parents are unknown. He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact and the family appears to have been one of the wealthier ones at Plymouth. Nathaniel Morton's 1669 book New England's Memorialstates he was one of the three from London, including Stephen Hopkins and Edward Doty.

Warren linen napkin that came on the Mayflower

Tradition says that he brought with him a particularly treasured and very portable family possession--a large linen damask napkin, woven in the Netherlands ca 1600, now on display at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth. As the napkin passed through the family it was signed by family members, beginning with Richard's great-great- granddaughter Abigail Billings Foster, who was born in 1714. The Museum also owns the Warren’s joint stool and porringer in its collection.

Warren Porringer from the Pilgrim Hall Museum

Richard died in 1628, leaving Elizabeth with seven children ranging in age from under 5 to teens and probably early 20s.

After Richard’s death, the Court took the unusual step of unanimously voting for his widow Elizabeth the Purchaser status her husband held. Elizabeth She died at Plymouth 2 Oct 1673 (sic: should be 22 October), aged above 90 years, "having lived a godly life, came to her grave as a shoke of corn fully ripe" (Plymouth Colony Records, 8:35).

Mayflower Quarterly, Vol 69, No. 2, June 2003, page 214-219, has an article "A Woman of Valor: Elizabeth Warren of Plymouth Colony," by Peggy M. Baker which writes about Elizabeth breaking conventions by living her long widowhood of 45 years as a very independent woman. Elizabeth's activities were documented to an unusual extent in the Plymouth Colony records. In the late 1630s she appears in the records deeding land from the Warren holdings in Plymouth's Eel River Valley to her sons-in-law. Her daughters had grown and married: Mary to fellow Anne passenger Robert Bartlett, Anna to Thomas Little, Sarah to Mayflower passenger John Cooke, Elizabeth to Richard Church and Abigail to Anthony Snow.

Relations in the large family seemed amicable until trouble loomed in 1652. Elizabeth's deeds to her sons-in-law, were challenged by her son Nathaniel and his wife’s grandmother Jane Collier. The court decided in Elizabeth's favor, finding that she had the power to give the land since she was recognized as a Purchaser in 1637 by the Court.

The major finding of the panel must have come as a shock to Nathaniel as the expected outcome by law and by custom would certainly have favored Elizabeth's son. The panel issued a stunning confirmation of Elizabeth’s status as head of household and her authority to act on her own and ordered Nathaniel to cease his claims. Nathaniel did receive some land and additional land after the death of his mother.

When she died in 1673, she received an unprecedented tribute in the Records of Plymouth Colony: "Mistress Elizabeth Warren, an aged widow, aged above 90 years, deceased on the second of October, 1673. Who, having lived a godly life, came to her grave as a shock of corn fully ripe." Read more about Elizabeth on Pilgrim Hall's "Women of Valor" page: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/womanofvalor.htm.

Caleb Johnson has information on the most recent research that has shown Elizabeth’s maiden name to be Walker (www.mayflowerhistory.com):

"Richard Warren's English origins and ancestry have been the subject of much speculation, and countless different ancestries have been published for him, without a shred of evidence to support them.Luckily in December 2002, Edward Davies discovered the missing piece of the puzzle.Researchers had long known of the marriage of Richard Warren to Elizabeth Walker on 14 April 1610 at Great Amwell, Hertford. Since we know the Mayflower passenger had a wife named Elizabeth, and a first child born about 1610, this was a promising record.But no children were found for this couple in the parish registers, and no further evidence beyond the names and timing, until the will of Augustine Walker was discovered in December 2002 by Edward Davies.In the will of Augustine Walker, dated April 1613, he mentions "my daughter Elizabeth Warren wife of Richard Warren", and "her three children Mary, Ann and Sarah."We know that the Mayflower passenger's first three children were named Mary, Ann, and Sarah (in that birth order), and that they were born c1610, c1612, and c1614, so this put the nail in the coffin and we can say with near certainty that Richard Warren of the Mayflower married in Great Amwell, Hertford to Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Augustine Walker. "

For more information on Elizabeth’s identity, see Edward J. Davies, "The Marriage of Richard^1 Warren of the _Mayflower_," TAG; vol 78 no 2 (April 2003), pp 81 - 86.

Richard’s grandson Benjamin Church had a large role in King Philip’s War. He lived in an area populated by Indians and made efforts to get to know them.

My two lines from Richard Warren that have not been submitted to the Mayflower Society:

Hi! Richard Warren's is my 11th Great Grandfather by his daughter, Abigail and Anthony Snow. I just submitted my lineage to the Society of Mayflower Descendants which was approved. If you want help with the process, let me know. Martha

Hello cousin. I am descended from Richard Warren through his daughter Mary (Bartlett) Warren. I have submitted four other lines to the GSMD, but I don't do that anymore. They priced themselves out of my ranged at $100 per Supplemental App. I'm secure in my facts and don't need another piece of paper to validate my research! I keep hoping that other family members will want to join and when they do I will give them some unproved line to join with.

Hi, I am just learning about my family, but I know I am descended from RW through Mary as you are. Please tell me more about your line. Mine makes its way to Ralph Steele in WV, then to Chapman then to Smith.

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I'm a Massachusetts native, a wife, mother of three and a genealogy nut. I work at a Senior Center planning activities and trips. My other loves include crafting, home decorating, reading, my three rescue dogs, and the Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. Email: Please contact me at: tessiecami(at)gmail(dot)com. If you're not a computerized robot, you'll know where to put the "at" sign and "dot." Thank you!